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Students given rare glimpse inside hospital's pathology department

School children from across Hampshire will be given a chance to go behind the scenes of Southampton General Hospital’s pathology department next week.

Students aged 14 and over will be able to tour the laboratories, talk to staff and take in presentations about what goes on in the department as part of National Pathology Week (2 to 8 November).

Histopathology registrars Dr Emily Shaw and Dr Charlie Tilley will give prospective scientists an idea of the work they carry out as pathologists on a day-to-day basis, looking at their role within a wider team of specialists.

They will also find out just how important microscopes are in the diagnosis of disease in Dr Anton Page’s presentation on electron microscopy.

He will talk about how the biomedical imaging unit’s powerful microscopes can view cells at magnifications of up to 600,000x.

Two young pathologists, Laura Nicholls and Brett Lockyer, will conclude the session with presentations of findings in two young sudden deaths.

Tours of the pathology labs will run from 1pm to 2pm and from 3pm to 4pm on Monday (2 November), while an afternoon seminar, including the above presentations, will take place at 2pm.

Dr Meg Ashton-Key, consultant pathologist, said: “There is much more to pathology than many people think and it is important we get that message across to young people in National Pathology Week.

“We are offering a great opportunity for students to come and see firsthand some of the important work carried out in our department. We hope to inspire the next generation of budding pathologists.”